English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

RegDwight

20:08

Yeah, I was going to comment, but run out of space, so now it's an answer.

Oh well. Happens all the time on those etymology questions.

FX_

@RegDwight: thanks for your edits on plausability/plausibility

RegDwight

Not at all.

FX_

it was a double mistake: I wrote plausibility, then corrected because I thought there were false friends (it's "plausibilité" in French) and corrected into something that is wrong :)

RegDwight

Yeah, and once the semantic satiation kicks in, you better just close your eyes and post and let others fix it or scratch their heads.)))

31

Q: Is there a word or phrase for the feeling you get after looking at a word for too long?

(Perhaps this only happens to me, but I doubt it.) Sometimes after looking at a word for a while, I become convinced that it can't possibly be spelled correctly. Even after looking it up, sounding it out, and realizing that there's simply no other way to spell the word, it still looks wrong. ...

single-word-requests

3

Q: Is "not at all" still alive and doing well?

I was taught to use "not at all" as a rather polite, standard reply to "thank you". However, I don't see it being used at all nowadays. Can I still use it? Would it be widely understood? Should I be aware of any differences between using it in British, American, Canadian, and Australian English...

usage dialects politeness

Level clear!

Martha

20:28

//confused

RegDwight

Those are unrelated.

Martha

To reality?

Logic?

Hey, it's sis!

RegDwight

They are only related in the sense, these are the questions I thought of while writing the last few comments, so here's a link clearance.

FX_

I was at 194 rep for the day, a few minutes ago, and I get an upvote; this gets me only +3, and now my daily rep is +197.

shouldn't I get a +6, and a total of +200?

RegDwight

Feb 25 at 13:04, by Robusto

This is strange. Today I am rep-capped but my daily score is only 190. How can that happen?

You looking at your rep report, I reckon?

WHOA! BUITIFUL!

diy.stackexchange.com

Robusto

20:45

You're into home repair, I take it?

RegDwight

@Robusto turns out, not really. Quoting myself from elsewhere just a few minutes ago, "Awesome. I have totally missed the genesis of this one. Normally I'm following all design proposals very closely, but DIY completely dropped off my radar."

Martha

My only problem with it is that it's very reminiscent of the beta graph-paper design.

RegDwight

Tell that to Jin, he's in the Tavern right now.)))

in The Tavern (General) on Meta Stack Overflow Chat, 17 mins ago, by Jin

i respect the users. after all they're the ones who actual frequent the site. not me.

The badges are sweeeeeet.

RegDwight, Europe, GMT+1

101 1 1 2

Oh. It doesn't display them here.

Anyhow, wood.

Robusto

Wood? Down, boy.

I mean, I get that you like it, but maybe you like it a little too much?

RegDwight

With some clubs or planes or whatever that is.

Robusto

21:02

Clubs? Planes?

Are you talking about the blueprint background?

RegDwight

I'm talking about that stuff in the badges.

Martha

Looks like Phillips-head screws to me.

Robusto

What @Martha said.

I thought it was obvious.

RegDwight

I thought you wanted an answer to your question.

18 mins ago, by Robusto

You're into home repair, I take it?

Robusto

5 mins ago, by RegDwight

Anyhow, wood.

RegDwight

21:04

@Martha I am a bit worried about the design for SF&F.

Martha

Is there a design proposal already?

RegDwight

No. But I'm thinking of all the possible, ahem, wars about what should or should not be included.

If the site survives, that is.

Them's killing all the bestest questchanz.

Martha

If the site ever gets to the nearly-out-of-beta stage, I have full confidence in Jin's ability to come up with something that everyone hates equally. :D

RegDwight

Hahaha.

Robusto

What is SF&F?

Sci-Fi Fantasy?

Martha

21:07

Just kidding, really. He's done some nice work on the sites; the only one I really take issue with is Cooking. It looks like a cheesy 60's cookbook.

RegDwight

Science Fantasy and Fiction.

@Martha Really? I thought it was one of the most polished thus far.

I mean, yeah, you might not like the theme as such, but the execution was spectacular.

Martha

@RegDwight It is growing on me.

@RegDwight Lovely spoonerism.

What is Billare asking in his comment?

4

A: What did Old English writing (letters and formatting) typically look like?

I just spent some quality time perusing the Insular and Anglo-Saxon chapters of Michelle P. Brown's A Guide to Western Historical Scripts from Antiquity to 1600 (pp. 48-49 and 58-59), as well as pp. 34-42 of Marc Drogin's Medieval Calligraphy: Its History and Technique. The names they use for the...

RegDwight

I think he is asking you whether it would be possible to scrounge up a picture of that Old English script.

Martha

Which Old English script?

RegDwight

I dunno. That.

Robusto

21:13

I thought he was talking about something which I gave an example of in my response.

That is real Old English script.

Martha

Most of the links he added to the LaTex fonts are actual scripts used for Old English, and I removed the one exception. Hence my confusion.

RegDwight

See, that's why I didn't want to approve that edit.

Martha

I don't actually have a problem with the edit - I suppose I should've linked some of the terms to at least Wikipedia, but I was too lazy.

RegDwight

8 hours ago, by RegDwight

They look legit to me, but they might be too many for Martha's tastes, or leading to a site she doesn't like, whatever.

Robusto

Yeah, I backed off it too.

Too many edits, too much speculation involved.

RegDwight

21:19

@Robusto But you did discover a cool new feature in the process.

Martha

Niece is apparently getting a sweet potato and green bean facial.

Robusto

Tru dat.

RegDwight

As the Russian saying goes, "There's no bad without good."

Robusto

If I just see a typo fixed or something like that, I push the button. But when someone makes wholesale changes to someone whose writing ability is above reproach, I back off.

RegDwight

Yup. I've rejected like a dozen edits for that very reason.

Robusto

21:20

@Martha — That's not far off from what my wife gets, @Martha. I mean, cucumbers?

RegDwight

In fact, I don't think I have ever rejected an edit for any other reason.

@Robusto I'm eating cucumbers right now. And I have no freaking idea where my wife's at.

Robusto

Does she ever put them on her eyes?

RegDwight

No. She eats them, too. But she puts all kinds of other stuffs on her eyes.

Robusto

Foodstuffs?

RegDwight

It would be easier to list all the stuffs she does not put on her face: Cucumbers.

Foodstuffs, salts, peelings, cremes.

I can't keep up.

Robusto

21:23

Honestly, I think if some magazine somewhere said that the secret to clear skin was armadillo poop, she would be out there looking for some.

And it would be $85 a bottle!

Or jar. Actually, I don't know how one buys armadillo poop.

RegDwight

Well I think we've got some only recently. From Japan. I can't read that Katakana, damn it.

But it says "nose", "pack", "foam", "shiseido", and "warning" in English.

Also, "whip".

And "feature".

And there's a smiling and twinkling manga redhead.

Robusto

Do me a favor. Don't show that stuff to my wife.

I think I remember shiseido from our own bathroom, though.

That sounds like one of those products.

RegDwight

I won't be bringing any of it to your back yard. Großes Indianer-Ehrenwort.

Robusto

You have to be a freakin' alchemist to figure out her vast array of cosmetics.

RegDwight

@Robusto Protip: don't introduce your wife to eBay.

Robusto

21:32

My part of the bathroom includes a toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss, mouthwash, shaving cream, and a razor. Oh, and a bar of ordinary soap.

All the rest is her stuff.

Martha

That's more than I use, @Robusto.

RegDwight

^ This.

Robusto

She has like 15 different soaps. Bars of soap you can freakin' see through.

RegDwight

Shampoos here.

Martha

(I don't use shaving cream and ran out of mouthwash, like, ages ago and haven't bothered buying more.)

RegDwight

21:34

I don't use dental floss. I just use an excellent toothbrush, and a friend of mine is a dentist.

Martha

Although, well, ok, I do have several different kinds of shampoo and conditioner distributed around the shower, but that's just 'cause they accumulate.

RegDwight

Whom I last visited four years ago.

Martha

I love the little floss picks they have nowadays. I can't use regular dental floss to save my life - it just gets slippery and icky and I can't reach anything anyway.

(I've never actually been to a dentist.)

Robusto

@RegDwight — So having a dentist for a friend absolves you from the need for oral hygiene? Interesting.

Martha

Niece has finished her facial[ahem, sorry] meal, and is now eating her bowl. Or so I'm told.

But she refused to speak to me on the phone. I'm offended. I shall have to take my revenge when I see her tomorrow. Should I eat her toes, or nibble on her ears?

RegDwight

21:42

@Robusto The other way round.

Every time I visit her (the last time was four years ago), she says, what are you here for? Your teeth are excellent. <knocks on wood>

My point is, if a dentist can be superfluous, then so can be dental floss. Just imagine all the money I would have wasted in the last 20 years.

Martha

You ought to floss, though: my mom has had excellent teeth all her life, but as a result, she tended to neglect the whole brushing/flossing thing, and now her (still-perfect) teeth are falling out because of gum disease.

RegDwight

I wouldn't have anywhere as much Lego!

@Martha Well, that's why I am still visiting the dentist from time to time. I won't be waiting for my teeth to fall out first.

Martha

/aside: slight evidence of non-nativeness: I'd phrase it as "that's why I still visit the dentist from time to time."

Completely different subject: on my reputation graph, why does the button say "Graph Reputation" when the chart never changes, just the details shown on the right?

RegDwight

@Martha Yeah, I would be paying more attention if I were pretending to be a native speaker.

Martha

@RegDwight Just sayin'.

RegDwight

21:51

Sure. So am I.)))

I mean, how's that smiley for an evidence. What else do you need.

FX_

oh, I think someone set the bar very high in terms of question quality:

0

Q: What is the purpose/meaning of the word "THE"

What is the purpose of the word 'THE' ? What is its meaning ? From where did it orgin from ? When should I capitilize "THE" ? When should I not use "THE" ?

usage meaning words capitalization

RegDwight

O-M-G.

Robusto

@Martha — He's already admitted to being a foreign agent in service to the Soviets.

Whoa! Obviously foreign smileys detected!

3 mins ago, by RegDwight

Sure. So am I.)))

RegDwight

@Robusto Precisely. And thank God I was wise enough to do so in the most timely manner.

I mean, now I can just write any rubbish that hapens my to come head first, know?

Robusto

Not since Yakov Smirnoff have I seen such a bad imitation of English.

RegDwight

21:57

@Robusto You seen Yakov Smirnoff? I am sorry.

I apologize on the behalf of Russki-Amerikansi Friendshipz!

Robusto

Yakov Smirnoff single-handedly topped Soviet Union!

RegDwight

@Robusto We figured as much, but it was too late.

Actually, looking at SpongeBob's post, I have no idea why I's still bothering using fancy articles and spellingz and stuff in chat. I mean, it's not like me tries to fool anybodyz. Would save so much time.

Ah! There's my wife. Gotta go. Night all!

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…